What counts as an emergency
A tree or a large limb on a building, a vehicle, a road or a power line. A tree that has partly failed and is hanging, leaning or split and could come down on something. A blocked drive or access road. A tree brought down across a boundary onto a neighbour's property. In all of those the aim on the first visit is to make the situation safe and get access back, with the tidy up following once the urgency has passed.
Last winter's storms, Storm Goretti among them, brought down a great many trees across Cornwall, and much of our work in those weeks was exactly this: root plates lifted out of lawns, stems across lanes, and hung up trees that had to be brought down carefully because of the tension in them.
How a fallen tree is dealt with
A windblown tree is not a standing tree lying down. The root plate may spring back upright when the weight of the stem is cut off it, the stem may be under compression or tension, and branches trapped under the trunk are stored energy. We work through it in a set order, cutting where the forces are known and using the digger or crane to hold weight where they are not. With the crane the whole stem can often be lifted clear of a roof in one piece rather than cut into small sections above it.
Once the tree is down and clear we deal with the root plate, which is usually lifted out with the digger, and cut and stack the timber. Repairs to the roof or fence are for the relevant trade, but we will have left the site safe for them to work.
Insurance claims
If the damage is covered by your home insurance, the insurer will normally want photographs before anything is moved, a written quote and an invoice on completion. We are used to providing all three. Photograph everything you safely can before we arrive, and do not attempt to move a tree off a building yourself.
Before the next storm
Most emergencies were visible in advance: dead wood in the crown, a cavity at the base, fungal brackets on the stem, a lean that has increased, roots exposed by a nearby excavation. The free tree health check exists to catch exactly these. Small remedial work to keep a tree healthy is always far more cost effective than the tree failing and the clean up afterwards.